Milan-based, Chilean-born DJ, producer, and keen digger, Paula Tape joins us for the 89th edition of the Phonica Mix Series.
Paula is also an active member of the Tempo Dischi crew – a label on a mission to discover and repress Italian gems from the lost era, such as Alexander Robotnick’s Computer Sourire and Contact Music’s Keep On Dance to name but two.
Check out Paula’s dancefloor-oriented mix and interview below.
Hey Paula, thanks for joining us! Can you tell us about your recording and what the idea was behind it…
Hola! Thanks for having me. This is one of those mixes that flows naturally out of you when you have in mind a rough idea of what you want to play, so you follow your feelings. In the days before recording I was getting into so much good music from friends and colleagues, mostly unreleased stuff and I had a big curiosity to mix some of those tracks with my other older house tracks. I started with some transitions and I realized there was a already a mood so I dimmed the lights and mixed with the flow.
Could you tell us a little bit about your background, perhaps where you grew up and what first got you interested in music?
In my teenage years I was hanging around in Santiago de Chile, the place I was born and where I lived almost all my life before moving to Europe. The city was offering many different opportunities and I have always been interested in music and curious about how people play and create music. That was a mysterious for me and a strong attraction that started a motivation to do something with that kind of “alchemy ” to understand how it works. I was trying any way to know more about different types of artists and scenes and listening much music as possible, then I learned to play an instruments, joined some teen bands, started going to concerts and clubs…
How does life in Chile differ from life in Milan, where you are now residing?
It’s very different, for example Santiago is a big city with six million people living there and Milan is a basically a crowed town with a small centre and you can meet a lot of people easily. I can say I miss many things of Santiago, my family, the warmth of the people, the way they approach life and more. Here in Milan here the quality of life super good, and I have daily access to many interesting inputs of culture, art, records and artists that I didn’t know it existed.
Are there any interesting new Chilean artists coming up at the moment that we should know about?
There are many! I love “Los Barbara Blade” which is a band the music they do is very unique, The Mugris very good electronic project with analog machines, Alisu is a women from Valparaiso and she do a live with synth drum machine sequencer all her self, Buen Clima, Pol del Sur, Fantasna is a very good producer and dj too, Mamacita which is a dj and producer too, Nico castro and Pepo Fernandez as djs and producers,
Matias Rivera, Daniel Klauser, Cao Bravo very good digger and selector which is part of Los Pajaros Pintados, Mente3000 an his Label Infinito Audio, and many others, there is a big music universe there!
What’s your preferred method for finding new music – do you still enjoy digging around in dusty crates or do you prefer to buy online?
Both methods I like so much! is very magic when I find the right path in a record shop and I find good stuff, but it needs a lot of time to invest, at the moment as I’m a little bit busy I spend a lot of time on discogs and digging, I like it when I’m on the bed, when I rest on the couch, when I drink a tea in the morning, actually every time I can feel more relaxed.
What does the rest of 2021 have in store for you?
The release of my new EP Astroturismo on Rhythm Section is very soon. Then there will be some remixes, meanwhile I’ll be working on new music I’m producing if not traveling for gigs. And for end of the year I will be back in South America, and being home after two years sounds like the perfect closing for this year for me!
Thanks, Paula!
